The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions
Box set by Miles Davis
Released	24 November 1998, reissued in 11 May 2004
Recorded	August 19, 1969 - February 6, 1970
Genre	Jazz, fusion, avant-garde jazz
Length	264:40
Label	Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music
Producer	Teo Macero (orig. recordings), Bob Belden, Michael Cuscuna
Miles Davis chronology
(Box 5) The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (2001) (Box 6) The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (1998) (Box 7) The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The original 1998 box set included metal binding and a slipcase cover.

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions is a four-disc box set of music recordings by trumpeter Miles Davis. The set collects all tracks Davis recorded between August 19, 1969 and February 6, 1970, including the 1970 double album Bitches Brew in its entirety. However, the title of the box set is somewhat of a misnomer: outside of the Bitches Brew tracks themselves, none of the other tracks appeared on Bitches Brew upon its original release, nor were they recorded during the same August 1969 sessions that resulted in Bitches Brew. Furthermore, additional material recorded for, but not used in Bitches Brew, is not included in this set; mainly rehearsal takes and unedited performances of the six album tracks. These have however later been illegally bootlegged and given the titles Deep Brew Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

When questioned by Paul Tingen why most of the material in fact was not recorded either for or at the same sessions as the original album, re-issue producer Bob Belden cleared up how their thought process went. According to him and the engineer all the songs Miles Davis recorded between August 1969 and early February 1970 used very similar line-ups to those on Bitches Brew and the main thing they all had in common was the emphasis on keyboards. Every song here includes two to three keyboard players, most often Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul and Herbie Hancock. It wasn't until late in February 1970 that Davis refined his concept by dropping the multiple electric pianists and going for a more guitar-heavy sound. Those following sessions were collected on The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions.

The box set includes some tracks that had never been previously released, one of which, the Wayne Shorter composition "Feio," has since appeared as a bonus track on late compact disc reissues of Bitches Brew. A few of the other tracks in the box set had previously appeared on the albums Live-Evil, Big Fun, and Circle in the Round.

The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions is chronologically number "6" in a series of Miles Davis box sets issued by Columbia Records/Legacy Records/Sony Music (the numbering scheme refers to the chronological order of the original recordings, not the release order of the box sets themselves). The set was reissued on 11 May 2004 with new packaging.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Pharaoh's Dance" (Joe Zawinul) – 20:06
2. "Bitches Brew" (Miles Davis) – 26:58
3. "Spanish Key" (Davis) – 17:34
4. "John McLaughlin" (Davis) – 4:22

Disc two

1. "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" (Davis) – 14:01
2. "Sanctuary" (Wayne Shorter) – 10:56
3. "Great Expectations" (Davis - Zawinul) – 13:45 available on Big Fun
4. "Orange Lady" (Zawinul) – 13:50 available on Big Fun
5. "Yaphet" (Davis) – 9:39 previously unreleased
6. "Corrado" (Davis) – 13:11 previously unreleased

Disc three

1. "Trevere" (Davis) – 5:55 previously unreleased
2. "The Big Green Serpent" (Davis) – 3:35 previously unreleased
3. "The Little Blue Frog" (alternate take) (Davis) – 12:13 previously unreleased
4. "The Little Blue Frog" (Davis) – 9:09 previously unreleased
5. "Lonely Fire" (Davis) – 21:09 available on Big Fun
6. "Guinnevere" (David Crosby) – 21:07 available on Circle in the Round

Disc four

1. "Feio" (Shorter) – 11:49 previously unreleased
2. "Double Image" (Zawinul) – 8:25 previously unreleased
3. "Recollections" (Zawinul) – 18:54 previously unreleased
4. "Take It or Leave It" (Zawinul) – 2:13 previously unreleased
5. "Medley: Gemini / Double Image" (Zawinul) – 5:52 available on Live-Evil

Personnel

Collective listing for all recording sessions.

• Miles Davis - Trumpet, Vocals
• Don Alias - Percussion, Conga, Drums
• Khalil Balakrishna - Sitar
• Harvey Brooks - Bass, Electric bass
• Ron Carter - Bass
• Billy Cobham - Drums, Triangle
• Chick Corea - Electric piano
• Jack DeJohnette - Drums
• Steve Grossman - Soprano saxophone
• Herbie Hancock - Electric piano
• Dave Holland - Bass, Electric bass
• Bennie Maupin - Bass clarinet
• John McLaughlin - Guitar
• Airto Moreira - Berimbau, Cuíca, Percussion
• Bihari Sharma - Tabla, Tamboura
• Wayne Shorter - Soprano saxophone
• Juma Santos (Jim Riley) - Conga, Shaker
• Lenny White - Drums
• Larry Young - Organ, Celeste, Electric piano
• Joe Zawinul - Electric piano

References

1. ^ Bush, John (2011 [last update]). "The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (August 1969-February 1970) - Miles Davis | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r372751. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 

• Belden, Bob and Michael Cuscuna. "Discography/Album Index." The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions by Miles Davis. Sony Music Entertainment C4K 65570, 1998.

External links

• Article by Paul Tingen about the making of the Complete Bitches Brew Sessions boxed set at Miles Beyond